It must be common knowledge that I am on a diet and I love to read. Cookbooks keep popping up everywhere I go, people leave them in my car when I’m at work, and my favorite librarian piles them up on the counter when I visit. It’s getting out of control. When I got home from the library last night I realized she had slipped me a copy of Real Girls Eat by Anthea Paul (2005 Everbest Printing Co.)
It’s okay for what it is; a book about food, nutrition and cooking aimed at teenage girls. It is a little heavy on organic and “natural” food, which has never really factored into my food related thoughts. I’m most likely wrong, and I’m sure someone will correct me, but I really only concern myself about the price. I don’t care if a bird is free-range, hand fed or whatever.
There’s some good wisdom in this book, especially if you have never learned to cook, if you eat a lot of fast food or don’t know anything about nutrition. The food groups are presented early in the book with a list of serving suggestions and nutrients. Paul has given the reader the breakdown of serving sizes for each of the food groups. Did you know that for fruit a serving is a medium sized apple, banana, orange, etc, ½ cup (3 oz) cooked or poached or chopped fruit, or ¾ cup (6 fl. Oz) fruit juice? I didn’t. I wanted to know so now I now.
What ticks me off is that there is no nutritional information included with the recipes. I know that the book is geared toward young girls who should not be considering a diet, counting calories or obsessing over fat content but for everyone else give a little info or a link to where we can find that info. That would have been nice. The book is a little hard to read. Varying fonts and colors make it hard to follow at times. It is VERY colorful with loads of pictures which made the book a lot of fun to look at.
For future reference for all you cookbook writers out there there are a few things a cookbook needs to have to be welcome in my house. Pictures, easy to read font and NUTRITIONAL information!
Here’s a recipe I enjoyed. It’s easy and yummy.
Lychee Slushy
It’s okay for what it is; a book about food, nutrition and cooking aimed at teenage girls. It is a little heavy on organic and “natural” food, which has never really factored into my food related thoughts. I’m most likely wrong, and I’m sure someone will correct me, but I really only concern myself about the price. I don’t care if a bird is free-range, hand fed or whatever.
There’s some good wisdom in this book, especially if you have never learned to cook, if you eat a lot of fast food or don’t know anything about nutrition. The food groups are presented early in the book with a list of serving suggestions and nutrients. Paul has given the reader the breakdown of serving sizes for each of the food groups. Did you know that for fruit a serving is a medium sized apple, banana, orange, etc, ½ cup (3 oz) cooked or poached or chopped fruit, or ¾ cup (6 fl. Oz) fruit juice? I didn’t. I wanted to know so now I now.
What ticks me off is that there is no nutritional information included with the recipes. I know that the book is geared toward young girls who should not be considering a diet, counting calories or obsessing over fat content but for everyone else give a little info or a link to where we can find that info. That would have been nice. The book is a little hard to read. Varying fonts and colors make it hard to follow at times. It is VERY colorful with loads of pictures which made the book a lot of fun to look at.
For future reference for all you cookbook writers out there there are a few things a cookbook needs to have to be welcome in my house. Pictures, easy to read font and NUTRITIONAL information!
Here’s a recipe I enjoyed. It’s easy and yummy.
Lychee Slushy
Shopping List:
13 oz can lychees in syrup (for core choose light syrup)
Fresh mint
Fresh mint
How to make it:
The night before you want to eat this, empty contents of the can into a durable plastic or ziplock bag or Tupperware freezer container. Seal tightly and place in freezer
24 hours later, remove from freezer 10 minutes before churning so it has a chance to soften.
The night before you want to eat this, empty contents of the can into a durable plastic or ziplock bag or Tupperware freezer container. Seal tightly and place in freezer
24 hours later, remove from freezer 10 minutes before churning so it has a chance to soften.
Place in blender and whiz quickly in spurts. You may need to use a wooden spoon (when stopping the blender naturally!) to quickly mix the chunks if the blender isn’t getting through them.
Scoop out into your serving bowls and garnish with fresh mint.
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